Pages

Monday, March 7, 2016

Green Climate
Fund must say no to partnerships with HSBC, CréditAgricole

Songdo,
South Korea --The Green Climate Fund (GCF) must not channel its money through
two scandal-ridden international commercial banks that are leading funders of
the coal industry, say civil society groups at a meeting of the GCF’s Board in Songdo,
South Korea.

The
groups say that the GCF must reject applications for accreditation by big banks
HSBC and CréditAgricole. Accredited entities are institutions approved to
receive and manage GCF funds.

"The
Green Climate Fund Board must reject HSBC and CréditAgricole. Creating new
business for big banks with large fossil fuel portfolios and poor records on
human rights and financial scandal would undermine the very purpose of the
Fund,” said Karen Orenstein of Friends of the Earth U.S.

"To
accredit HSBC and CréditAgricole is to short-change the vulnerable communities
and the countriesthat the Fund is meant to directly benefit. There is no profit
to be made in building the resilience of thoseadversely impacted by climate
change. Public funds must be used to support local communities in developing
countries, not to subsidize big banks,” said Sam Ogallah of the Pan African
Climate Justice Alliance.

The
GCF’s mandate to work directly with developing country institutions is what
makes it innovative, the groups say. Targeted funding will help to build skills
and expertise in poor countries, allowing governments to better meet the needs
of the poorest and most vulnerable people in their countries.

“Accrediting
HSBC and CréditAgricole would be inconsistent with both the Paris Agreement, and
with upholding high human rights standards. Any private sector partner of the
GCF must have a credible strategy in place to make its entire portfolio and
operations consistent with keeping global temperature rise to no more than 2°C,
let alone well below 1.5 °C,” said Annaka
Peterson
of Oxfam.

“The
accreditation of these banking giants would jeopardize the reputation of the
Green Climate Fund and expose it to unnecessarily high fiduciary risk. HSBC and
CréditAgricole provided US$7 billion and US$9.5 billion, respectively, to the
coal industry between 2009 and 2014, and their coal financing does not show a
clear downward trend. Moreover, HSBC is deeply embroiled in massive financial
scandal,” said Yann Louvel of BankTrack.

A
U.S. judge recently ordered the release of a report by an independent monitor
overseeing the cleanup of HSBC’s massive money laundering -- the report is said
to be so damning that it would provide a “road map” for criminals seeking to
launder money and finance terrorism.[1]

172
NGOs released a statement calling for the rejection of HSBC and CréditAgricole
by the GCF. A copy of the statement can be found here.
Appended to the statement are annexes on the fossil fuel financing trends of
HSBC and CréditAgricole, both of which fail to show a clear downward trend,
while their renewables financing trails far behind their fossil fuel financing.

Images
from the social media campaign calling for the GCF Board to reject HSBC and CréditAgricole
can be found here: